sentiment in favor of change; the government became useful to the reformers as an effective means of translating their ideas into law.

208. Summary. The period from 1485 to 1527 is not an age of striking achievements on the part of the English people; still, the period is not without significance. Several facts and tendencies are prominent. (1) Both Henry VII and Wolsey strove to keep England at peace with

An age of peace.

other nations. The old menace of the French-Scotch alliance Henry VII tried to match with an alliance with the Spanish sovereigns. Cardinal Wolsey favored a wider system of alliances that should maintain the "balance of power." (2) The

Absolutism.

commerce.

period reveals a strong tendency toward absolute

rule: it was the purpose of both Henry VII and Wolsey to consult parliament on rare occasions only. The problem was how to provide the necessary revenue for the government; and the first Tudor tried to solve this by demanding forced loans, collecting benevolences, etc. (3) English foreign commerce grew immensely during the reign of Henry Growth of VII; the king promoted it intelligently and effectively by well-considered legislation and commercial treaties. The geographical discoveries of the same period also meant much for the future of English trade. The Renais- (4) The Renaissance movement, with its center at Oxford, showed much vigor; it enjoyed the favor of Cardinal Wolsey and of Henry VIII, who took great pride in his learning. For a time Erasmus, the chief of the humanistic forces, resided and worked in England. (5) The Protestant movement was gathering great strength in Germany and the neighboring lands. In England it centered about the university of Cambridge and its ideas were being widely disseminated. But it lacked leadership and did not make much headway before 1529, when Henry VIII allied himself with the revolutionists.

sance.

Protestantism.

THE GOVERNMENT OF HENRY VII. Fletcher, Introductory History of England, I, ii, 16-22; Gairdner, Henry VII, c. xiii; Innes, History of England,

249-252.

PROGRESS OF THE RENAISSANCE. - Cross, History of England, 302-307; Ransome, Advanced History of England, 389-391; Seebohm, Oxford Reformers; Taunton, Wolsey, cc. iv, vi; Tout, Advanced History of Great Britain, 329-331. FLODDEN FIELD. - Brown, Short History of Scotland, 268-275; Ransome, 395-397.

HENRY VIII.

Fletcher, I, ii, 23-30; Pollard, Henry VIII.

WOLSEY AND HIS WORK. Creighton, Cardinal Wolsey, c. xi; Innes, 262268; Oman, History of England, 285-289; Ransome, 398-402; Taunton, c. xi.

THE EVE OF THE REFORMATION. - Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, 246-254 (Froude), 274-280 (Gasquet); Innes, 268-271; Taunton, Wolsey, c. v; Tout, 331-333.

CHAPTER X

THE REVOLT FROM ROME

209. Henry VIII and the Anglican Revolt. The anti-Roman movement, which had been gathering strength in England during the ten years following the challenge of Martin Luther in 1517, was now to find support and leadership at the English court itself. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that the English king initiated a new movement into which the earlier currents were drawn. But Henry's

Henry's quar

rel with the quarrel

church.

with the

church, unlike that of

Martin Luther, did not grow out of any differ

ences as to morals or

doctrine: it was a ques

HENRY VIII

tion of authority, of power, of supremacy in the English church. Henry VIII had, indeed, always claimed supremacy for the crown in ecclesiastical as well as secular affairs: but up to 1527 this claim had no particular importance, it was a mere theoretical assertion. In that year, however, a difficulty arose that

THE PROBLEM OF THE KING'S MARRIAGE

237

altered the situation completely: the occasion was the king's divorce.

210. The Problem of the King's Marriage. The death of Henry's older brother Arthur left the young princess Catherine a widow after a marriage of only a few months. The Spanish and English dynasties had, however, good reasons The king's for wishing to continue the alliance: Catherine's marriage. dowry had been paid in part only. Henry VII was afraid the remainder would never be paid, while Ferdinand had similar well-founded fears that what had already been paid would never be returned. After some negotiations it was agreed that Catherine should marry her brother-in-law Henry. As the laws of the church forbade a union of this sort, The papal it was necessary to secure the permission of the dispensation. pope; and on the urgent request of Queen Isabella, who was on her deathbed, Pope Julius II granted the license. There seems to have been some doubt at the time as to the validity of the pope's dispensation, since marriage with a sister-in-law was thought to be forbidden by the Mosaic law; the obstacle that Pope Julius had removed might, therefore, be considered as a divine ordinance, and the church had never claimed authority to dispense with divine law. The legality of the dispensation was not seriously questioned, however, before 1527, when Catherine had been Henry's wife and queen for eighteen years.1

Anne Boleyn.

Five years before this, Anne Boleyn, a young girl of sixteen years, had come to court and had attracted the king's attention. Henry's interest soon grew to infatuation and he determined to marry the dark-eyed maiden.2 But to do this he must get his marriage to Catherine annulled. Wolsey was ordered to secure a papal decree to this effect, and proceeded to the task with much reluctance. Clement VII was pope at the time; he was a weak man and would probably not have scrupled to grant Henry's request, had he been free to do so:

Clement VII

and Henry's demand.

1527.

1 Cheyney, pp. 337-339; Robinson, No. 115; Bates and Coman, 238-239 (Shakespeare). 2 Cheyney, No. 199.

the European situation was such, however, that it seemed equally dangerous to grant and to refuse.

211. The Pope's Dilemma. Germany was in revolt against the Roman see and Lutheran ideas were spreading into the Scandinavian North. Charles V, Catherine's nephew, had ambitions in Italy; Henry VIII and Francis I, the king of Difficulties France, were allied against him. Consequently, in Italy. Charles was the pope's enemy while Henry VIII would be counted among his active friends. The year that brought Henry's urgent request to Rome also brought Charles' forces to the papal city: Rome was sacked by the imperial (German) troops, and Clement was made a prisoner. Situated

1527.

as he was, the pope naturally found it difficult to choose between Charles and Henry, for a prisoner is not wholly a free agent. If he should refuse to grant the petition of the English king, England might be lost to the Roman church. On the other hand, to annul Catherine's marriage would offend Charles, who was the nearer and more dangerous enemy. There was, therefore, nothing to do but to delay the decision, and in this Clement succeeded for two years. 212. The Failure of the King's Suit; the Fall of Wolsey.1 However, the pope could not refuse the request for a formal trial of the king's case, and accordingly he provided a special court for this purpose of which the lawyer Campeggio, an Italian cardinal who was also bishop of Salisbury, was to be the presiding judge with Cardinal Wolsey as chief assistant.2 It was some time before the new machinery was set in motion, and after the court was formally opened it proceeded at a pace that seems to have been purposely slow. Before it had concluded its hearings, the pope had made peace with Charles V; and transferred to suddenly England learned that Clement had ordered the court and its hearings and the whole case transferred to Rome.

Cardinal Cam

peggio and

his court.

The court

Rome. 1529.

1 Gardiner, 383-384; Innes, I, 275-282; Tuell and Hatch, No. 31 (Shakespeare). 2 Cheyney, No. 200.